The Cheltenham Festival is the most prestigious National Hunt meeting in the British racing calendar with prize money second only to the Grand National.

Since 2005, the Festival has been held over four days every March at the Cheltenham course in Gloucestershire. The Festival is held from Tuesday to Friday, ordinarily in the middle of the month. 2012’s Festival will be held between Tuesday 13th March and Friday 16th March.

The Festival is particularly popular with Irish visitors for three main reasons.

Firstly, many Irish horses race at Cheltenham and there are many races which pitch British versus Irish runners. This is relatively rare during the rest of the season.

Secondly, the Irish have a huge affinity with horse racing and this is a great opportunity to see four days of quality National Hunt racing.

Finally, the event generally coincides with Saint Patrick’s Day – a national holiday in celebration of Ireland’s patron saint.

With six or seven races on each of the four days there are plenty of high quality events. The highlights of each day are:

• Tuesday – Champion Hurdle

• Wednesday – Queen Mother Champion Chase

• Thursday – World Hurdle

• Friday – Cheltenham Gold Cup

With twenty-six races spread across the four days there are many betting opportunities at the Festival with hundreds of millions of pounds wagered by eager punters every year.